The Canuck Way Mailbag: Lineup changes, Roussel, Virtanen, more
It’s time for another edition of The Canuck Way mailbag! You sent your Vancouver Canucks related questions on Twitter and I answered!
I can’t believe that it will be September soon. Fall is upon us and summer is drawing to a close. The Vancouver Canucks are also playing playoff games right now. Try telling that to someone a year ago, not a chance anyone would believe it. It’s crazy how time flies. The week flew by and this also means another edition of The Canuck Way mailbag! Site Expert Brayden Ursel is busy moving to a new house so I decided to take the driver seat for the mailbag this week.
Our Twitter followers have given me some good questions to answer. If you want to ask a question for future mailbags, be sure to follow @FsTheCanuckWay on Twitter and we will be sure to answer them.
Anyway, on to the questions! (Also should note, this was written before Game 4.)
Who do you think needs to step up the most in order for the Canucks to make this a lengthy series?
— Bill Huan (@bill_huan) August 30, 2020
The obvious answer is Jacob Markstrom. All season long and into the playoffs, he has been incredible for the Canucks and a huge reason why they are in the position that they are in. If Markstrom continues his strong play, this could be a long series. He needs to continue to come up big and make huge saves. Even when the Canucks aren’t playing well, Markstrom gives them a chance to win.
Other than Markstrom, I would also say the entire top six. They got a boost with Tyler Toffoli returning in Game 2. A theme of the Canucks this season is that when the top six produces, they usually find the tea successful in earning a win. When they dry up, the team crumbles. So, getting Elias Pettersson, Bo Horvat, and company on the score sheet is another way the Canucks could make this series against the Golden Knights go the distance.
Jake Virtanen hasn’t done much of anything up to this point in the Playoffs. Would Travis Green be doing the right thing if he replaced him with Zack MacEwen? Why or why not?
— PP1 PODCAST (@ThePP1Podcast) August 30, 2020
Jake Virtanen hasn’t lived up to expectations in these playoffs. Honestly, I would take him out and put Zack MacEwen in at this point. Travis Green has been mixing and matching his lines all playoffs, so putting in MacEwen over Virtanen wouldn’t surprise me at this point.
Virtanen has got the tools for playoff hockey, he is just not using them. In the second period of game 3, he should have used his speed to drive to the net instead of waiting for someone to pass to. His strength and speed is a big need for the bottom six to compete in the playoffs. If he isn’t using his tools or making an impact, you might as well put MacEwen in who can provide physicality, strength, speed, and he can also provide offense from time to time.
So it wouldn’t be a bad idea to put the man they call “The Big Fella” in the lineup.
https://twitter.com/Macusian12345/status/1300170069557702657
At the time of this writing (before Game 4), there is a good chance that Tyler Myers makes his return to the lineup according to Sportsnet’s Dan Murphy and TSN 1040’s Rick Dhaliwal. So I would expect Jordie Benn to come out of the lineup in order for him to slot in.
But, to answer your question, Benn would be someone I would personally see come out of the lineup. I’m also not sure if Loui Eriksson should draw in soon unless there is another injury. In terms of somebody on thin ice, I already mentioned Virtanen above. I would also even suggest Oscar Fantenburg, especially with Myers potentially returning. I am not a fan of the Fantenburg-Myers pairing.
Part 2
Another question about the lineup. Overall, it was a poor game against the Golden Knights. However, they did start pretty well in the first but couldn’t convert their chances. From the second period onwards, the Canucks were under siege by Vegas’ shutdown and forecheck.
It is worth tweaking the lineup after a game like that. It is not ideal to go with the same lineup, so I do expect some changes from Green.
If the Canucks go the distance in this series versus Vegas, what will they need to do to get the puck past Robin Lehner? He’s shut the door time and time again.
— Adam Dane (@AdamDane7) August 30, 2020
If the Canucks want to get the pucks past Robin Lehner, they have to go to the net. In Game 2, all their goals (minus the empty netter of course) were scored within the crease or very close to it. In Game 3, the Canucks weren’t shooting much from that area and only had one shot in the final 40 minutes inside 10 feet according to TSN 1040’s Jeff Paterson.
Basically, they got to test Lehner from close range. Get traffic in front of the net and shoot the puck and maybe there could be a rebound to pounce on.
Could Roussel maybe NOT chirp Lehner before the puck drop? It’s clearly not having the intended effect.
— Kevin Zarifeh (@KevinZarifeh) August 30, 2020
I have to agree with this one. Roussel chirping Lehner in warm-up hasn’t really been working. It seems it has made Lehner stand on his head instead of being fazed out. So, I think Roussel should stop with the chirping in the warm-up altogether. Whatever he’s doing, isn’t working. He leads all NHL players in playoff penalty minutes largely in part to his two 10-minute misconducts.
dark. Next. Canucks share statement on boycotting NHL games
Conclusion
Be sure to come around next week for another mailbag! Once again, if you want to answer a question, follow @FSTheCanuckWay on Twitter and look out for the weekly Tweet asking for questions. Stay safe out there.